Insulated rail-joint.



J. P. NOONAN.

IN$ULATED RAIL JOINT. APPLIOATION FILED IEB.21, 1912.

1,062,296. S I Patented May 20, 1,913.

WITNESSES INVENTOR JOHN P. NOONAN. or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

i- I INSULATED RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent. 1

PatentedMay 20, 1913.

Application filed February 21, 1912. Serial No. 679,020.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN P. NOONAN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at North Side, Pittsburgh, in thecount of Allegheny and State 'ofPennsylv-ania, ave invented certain newand useful Improvements in Insulated Rail-Joints, of which the followingis a specification. I

My invention relatesto. the construction of insulatedrail jointsemployed to connect together the ends of the ralls in constructing arailway track, and more particularly relatesto the construction ofinsulated joints used in connection with. railway tracks employingwooden rail ties.

One object of my invention is to provide an insulated rail joint havingnovel means whereby the strength of the joint is materially increasedwith but a slight increase in the weight or amount of metal used inmaking the splice bars used in forming the joints.

Another object of my invention is to provide a rail jo1nt having meanswhereby the metal splice bars are efl'ecti-vely insulated from the trackrailsand having improved means whereby the bearing surface of the splicebars on the wooden ties is very largely increased and a more durable andlasting rail joint is obtained.

Still further objectsofthe invention will appear as the invention ismore fully described hereinafter.

Referring to the. accompanying drawings forming part of thisspeclfication, Figure 1 is a lon tudinal side elevation of an insulatedrall joint as constructedand arranged in accordance with. my inventionand applied for, use to connect the ends of the track rails. Fig. 2 is atransverse section of the same, and Fig. 3 is a plan showing a detail ofthe splice bar as formed in accordance with this invention. a

In the drawings, the numeral 2. designates track rails having theiradjacent ends secured together b means of trackbolts 3..

A wooden block 4 is'shaped to snugly fit between theopposite inclinedfaces of the head 5 and flange 6 and against the faces oftlie web 7 ofthe track rails one of these blocks being provided on each side of theweb of the track rails.

Secured on the outside of the wooden filler blocks are the rolled metalsplice bars 8 forming the novel feature of this invenwidth of thehorizontal base flange.

' vertical direction,

. face of these tion As will be seen by reference to the drawings, thesplice bars comprise flat horizontally extending flange portions 9 and10 and vertical flange'portions 11 which extend upwardly from about themiddle of the The base flange-formed by the flange portions 9 and ends10 of they flange portion 10 extend horizontally on opposite sides ofthe vertical flange portions 11, so as. to provide a-wide flat bearingsurface which bears on the rail ties 12 of the track.

The outer horizontally projecting portions of the base flange 10 locatedbetween adjoining ties 12 are bent downwardly. The

downwardly bent portions 10 extend for some distance on either side ofthe middle of-"the length of the metal splice bars in a arallel with theupwardly extending firings portions 11, and inclined portions 10 connectthe vertical flange portions 10" with the flat portions 10 of. thehorizontal base flanges 10. r The inwardly projecting base flangeportions 9 extend beneath the'flanges 6 of the track rails 2 and a sheetof insulating material 13 is inter" osedbetween the upper surangeportions 9 and the bot- ;tom surface of the rail flanges 6 so as toin-'sulate the rail flanges from the metal splice bars. The .side edges 13of the sheet of fiber or other insulating material 13 are turnedupwardly so as to extend between the marginal side edges of the railflanges '3 and the adjacent surface of the vertical flanges 11 of thesplice .bars. I 1

Thebolts. 3 securing the splice bars to the rails extend throughsuitable registering j holes provided in the vertical upwardly extendingflanges ofthe splice bars, in the wooden filler blocks and in the web ofthe rails, and a ferrule or washer 14 formed of fiber and threaded onthe bolts is located in the holes in the rail flanges so as to preventcontact ofthe metal bolts with the metal of the rail flanges.

The advantages of myinvention' will be apparent to those skilled in theart. By the I is very materially stifiened and strengthened and bendingof the splice bars is 'pre-' vented. I

Modifications in the construct-ion of the splice bars and in the woodenfiller blocks may be made Without departing from the spirit and scope ofmy invention as defined in the appended claim.

I claim A rolled splice bar comprising a base, an inte ral substantiallyvertical. flange exten ing lengthwise of the base at thelongitudinalcenter thereof, the middle portion of the base at one side only of theflange hav.

ing a girder portion bent downwardly into 5 a substantially verticalpart and inclined parts connecting the ends of the vertical part withthe horizontal part of the base, the base at the op osite side of theflange being continuous rom end to end of the 20 splice bar,substantially as described.

In testimony where0f,I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN RNOONAN.

- Witnesses: v

N. M. HEUOH, R. N. MCELHENY.

